Norway’s $1.9 trillion sovereign wealth fund has announced the sale of its holdings in 11 Israeli companies and the termination of all contracts with external managers for its Israeli portfolio, as it bows to public pressure over investments linked to the Gaza war.
The Fund also formally known as Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), appears to be selectively divesting from a handful of firms while maintaining broader exposure to Israel’s financial markets. Domestic unease over civilian suffering in Gaza has intensified calls for action.
Although NBIM predominantly tracks global equity and bond indices, it retains scope for active management. The organisation has now confirmed it will cease all active investment strategies in Israel.
Before the latest sell-off, its Israeli exposure amounted to roughly 0.1 percent of the total portfolio, around $2 billion. Shares in the 11 non-index companies have now been sold, and the fund will continue to hold stakes in certain index-listed Israeli firms.
Despite these withdrawals, Stuart Livingstone-Wallace, analyst at Bloomberg noted that Israeli financial assets, particularly in technology and equities remain robust.
“Israeli assets as a whole don’t seem to be suffering. They are amongst the best performing in the world”, he noted.
“So if you look at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, it was one of the best-performing equity benchmarks in the world in the first six months. The shekel was one of the best-performing currencies. In the last four months, IPO volume has tripled. The amount of tech investment is the highest in three years, with big names like Google, Palo Alto Networks and Nvidia making investments in Israel in the last several months”, Livingstone-Wallace said.
Experts say the sharp difference in how investors are reacting shows just how complicated the situation is. On one hand, financial indicators suggest Israel’s economy is holding up well, but on the other, serious political and humanitarian issues are still causing concern.
